Mandatory Credit: Jon Durr-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Red Sox managed a measly three hits and Xander Bogaerts made a critical throwing error, allowing Alexei Ramirez to score from second for the winning run in the bottom of the ninth as the Chicago White Sox prevailed over the Red Sox, 2-1, on a cold April night at U.S. Cellular Field.
Rookie Erik Johnson stymied the Sox through 6 and 2/3 innings, striking out nine, while Scott Downs and the relief corps held Boston hitless through the final frames. Daniel Nava‘s solo shot was the lone offensive highlight for the Sox.
Boston wasted a gutsy effort from starter Jake Peavy, who threw 114 pitches over six innings, yielding just a run on three hits, striking out eight and walking four.
With an announced attendance of 13,402 dwindling to what seemed like a few hundred by the end of the frigid affair, things unraveled in the ninth with Burke Badenhop (0-2) on the mound. The righty allowed two baserunners (leadoff hitter Alejandro De Aza was cut down attempting to steal second) before punching out Tyler Flowers. Chris Capuano relieved, promptly walking Adam Eaton. Marcus Semien hit a tapper to short, which Bogaerts grasped, then repositioned himself to get the throw around Eaton. The heave was short of the bag and first baseman Mike Carp was unable to make the scoop, scoring Ramirez for the Chicago victory.
Boston may have lost Mike Napoli for a few games as the first baseman dislocated his finger sliding into second base in the ninth inning. Would he have made the grab at first? We’ll never know. What we do know is the Sox need to score more runs. Peavy now has three no-decisions in three quality starts. Despite ten quality starts in 14 games by the staff as a whole, the team’s record stands at 5-9.
They have also lost three games in a row, tying their longest streak from last season.
Next up on the White Sox schedule, Clay Buchholz assumes the role of stopper as the BoSox face the ChiSox and John Danks at 8:10 ET on Wednesday.